This invention relates generally to exercising devices, and has particular reference to a novel device for exercising the lungs.
After chest surgery, it is frequently very painful for the patient to breathe and, in addition, the patient may be so weakened that breathing is difficult. In such cases, the patient tends to breathe shallowly and deeper inhalation must be encouraged to help prevent lung congestion which can lead to pneumonia. Deeper breathing also helps to recondition muscles and aids in the healing process.
Lung exercising devices, or respiratory exercisers, have been developed heretofore both for medical use as noted above and non-medical use such as improving breath control for singing or playing a musical instrument. Devices of this type have also been devised purely for amusement. In the great majority of the respiratory exercisers of the prior art, the user exhales or blows into the device rather than inhaling through it as in the present invention. In fact the only prior inhalation device known to the applicant is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 393,869, issued Dec. 4, 1888 to C. E. Warren.
Like the present invention, several of the prior art respiratory exercisers employ a lightweight ball, such as a ping pong ball, as a visual indicator. These are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,100,898; 3,695,608 and 3,720,202. However, each of these is an exhalation device and none operate in the manner of the device disclosed herein.